Cognitive Ability: A Valid Predictor of Job Performance

Mar 25, 2014

With the economy slowly moving back on track organizations are starting to lift hiring freezes and focus on growth opportunities. Harvard Business Review’s blog highlights this trend by discussing four (more) reasons why it’s time to shop for the best and brightest. Nunes and Breene highlight investment in top talent as a critical element of high performance, where top-notch employees are viewed as investments in building the next great business. What this post is missing is the HOW- how do you select top talent?

Every job is different but research has robustly demonstrated that cognitive ability is a valid predictor of job performance. Why? Cognitive ability is really just the ability to learn. A fast learner can pick up new skills faster and multi-task more effectively than a slower learner. This leads to fast learners acquiring job knowledge faster and therefore increasing their job performance.

At AAI Nunes and Breene are preaching to the choir because our business has always been focused on selecting the best and brightest applicants to maximize your organization’s ROI. Our Applied Reasoning Test is an easy to use web-based assessment that provides you with a detailed breakdown of each applicant’s cognitive ability and how he or she compares to other mid-level managers. Identifying your brightest applicants will help you recruit top talent for your organization and kick start your organization’s progress on becoming the next great business.